Most 12 year old kids are busy updating their MySpace pages or planning on what they’ll wear to school the next day, but not Emily Hagins. She decided to direct her own feature film about zombies entitled Pathogen after watching a screening of Undead, and Zombie Girl: The Movie is documentary that chronicles her effort from concept to the first screening. Emily’s a local gal, so this movie was a shoe-in for this year’s Fantastic Fest.

Filmmakers Aaron Marshall, Eric Mauck and Justin Johnson stumbled across Emily and her movie when they saw a local ad looking for people who wanted to be zombies in a movie, and when they found out how old Emily was, they decided to do a documentary about the film, which turned into 146 hours of footage that had to be broken down into a digestible size.

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Our own Rick DeVos, Spout’s fearless leader, was interviewed and quoted in an Austin Chronicle article yesterday. The article, “The Future of Film on the Web,” talks about the overwhelming sea of content on the web, and how “The old days of a Web campaign for a film attracting audiences on novelty alone are over. …Instead, filmmakers are finding success in reaching out to online communities….”

Communities build excitement around discovering and sharing something with others, the article asserts, which is what filmmakers need to do today to make their movie stand out. This, of course, is where Spout comes in. Here’s part of what Rick has to say:

For Rick DeVos, founder and CEO of film community Spout.com, that’s where Hollywood goes wrong. “They think of community as, oh, I’ll put a message board on my Web site, and that’s building a community around this film. It’s much deeper and more complicated than that.”

Spout is a community first, a commercial entity second, and it’s powered by connections. “We’ve stolen liberally from Malcolm Gladwell’s ideas around the tipping point,” DeVos explains. “We think of our users as three components: You have the casual film consumer; you have the maven, the passionate film fan, the connector who’s tagging and blogging like crazy; and the filmmaker. We think of the maven as the way of connecting the consumer and the filmmaker. They’re a trusted voice in this sea of content.”

If you’re interested in this blog, then chances are you know about the film Four Eyed Monsters. Even if you didn’t read about them here, their tsunami wave of popularity still probably reached you. Perhaps tsunami is a dramatic word, but when you consider that with no marketing besides what they could do themselves, they’ve had literally over a hundred thousand young hipsters (or wannabe hipsters like myself) following their video podcasts about the insanely tumultuous life of their film (fallouts with actors, fallouts with family, relationship trouble, and what was Arin doing sleeping in an airport and missing his flight to the premier of his own film? Aaah! It’s all so juicy!).

I met Susan Buice and Arin Crumley, the directors of Four Eyed Monsters, at a filmmaker cocktail party before their movie screened at the Waterfront Film Festival in June of 2005. I was really moved by how ambitious their film is, so I started keeping track of them. Since then they have:

- Been to dozens more festivals
- Posted a “Distributors Most Wanted List” on their website
- Held a screening for said distributors which resulted in no distribution
- Produced a wildly popular video podcast (Launched on iTunes the same day as the video iPod)
- Pioneered DIY distribution by having fans request the film in their city, then set up screenings
- Signed a deal with Withoutabox.com to distribute a DVD (which still hasn’t materialized)
- Hosted their own sold-out screenings in NYC
- Got even more screenings at the IFC Film Center in NYC, with less turnout than was hoped for

Finally, this week they won a $100,000 audience award at the indieWIRE Undiscovered Gem Festival, a traveling festival that hit a dozen cities this year. This award also brings theatrical distribution to theaters in seven other cities and a broadcast of the film on the Sundance Channel.

I’m really happy for Susan and Arin. When I first met them a year and a half ago, they said they wanted theatrical distribution. They wanted audiences to see the film in the “black box” of theaters, the place they felt it was meant to be shown. Now, through a lot of hard work and dedication, they got it. They really did it.

But I worry that they might be overlooking a much greater accomplishment. How many people have downloaded the podcast now? 150,000? 200,000? How many people will show up to see FEM with its distribution prize? Maybe a few thousand in each city? It’s been over four months since they released Episode 8 (and my tongue is still dangling from Susan’s oh-so-transgressive kiss!).

Susan and Arin, we loved you with no theatrical release. We loved the intimacy with which you bared your souls. We relished in the innovation with which two “amateurs” told their story. And we watched it all online, like a cinematic revolution was marching down the street outside our homes.

In kicking and screaming your way into a traditional distribution deal–the theatrical release of FEM–you inadvertently blazed a trail for truly alternative, truly grassroots distribution. The trail you blazed is leading to building a global audience without theater, home video, or TV distribution. A world where filmmakers don’t need the King to touch their shoulder with the sword of their marketing dollars and industry connections.

I worry now that you could come dangerously close to losing the audience you\’ve built on video podcasts by putting all your energy toward a less loyal audience going to theaters. Most of us don’t live near a theater where FEM will play. I’m happy you got what you always wanted, but there’s a selfish side of me that wants Episode 9. It’s the same side that’s more blown away with what you accomplished with your video podcasts than the grand prize you won this week.

Will you eventually give up on the pretty and popular–but fickle–girl (the theater) in favor of the wonderful, sensible girl who\’s been by you all along? (Me. The guy who just called himself a girl.)

Today at the Starz Denver Film Festival I spoke with Aaron Wiederspahn about the unique way his film, The Sensation of Sight was created. Wiederspahn discusses the creative challenges faced by filmmakers on a tight budget and how making a film has a lot to do with being in the moment. Finally he discusses the filmmakers who have had an impact on him as a filmmaker, and what projects await him.

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Starz Denver Film Festival, Spout podcast, The Sensation of Sight, Aaron Wiederspahn

It’s almost time for Filmmaker Independent’s 2nd annual Filmmaker Forum. The title of this year’s forum is “Make and Sell your Film Without Getting Screwed.” The graphic treatment is all two-by-fours and wood screws. It’s cute, but a bit cynical. It’s like a Lamaze class advertising, “How to deliver your baby without getting sliced open and dropped by your insurance.” The fear factor is put to work.

When it gets down to it, I’m not sure how many filmmakers out there look back at the early stages of their career and think about who screwed them over. I have, however, heard many tell stories of how naive they were about making and distributing films in the early days of their careers.

The most recent story is one I came across at Telluride. Rolf De Heer was there with Ten Canoes (now at the Chicago International Festival). For those of you who don’t know, Rolf De Heer is one of a few independents who made a film industry out of essentially nothing–in his case, he created the industry in Australia, where one didn’t exist. As a young director, De Heer’s first three films were commercial failures, not because they weren’t good, but because he just didn’t understand the Market. His first trip to Cannes was an eye opener and a turning point. He showed up with his film under his arm and quickly realized all the other films had booked screenings and parties six months in advance for the Industry folk. Nobody carrying any weight in the Industry even saw his film.

“I decided I was not going to do it [the traditional way] anymore. Each film takes a year or more and becomes the process of me living my life. If the process is miserable, then I’m throwing my life away. I am going to make the films I enjoy making… work closely with a few people rather than very many at a distance. And I prefer to be passionate about the subject matter because if the film goes nowhere it doesn’t matter.”

De Heer keeps his budgets low so investors don’t fear a huge loss. He’s built up his credibility with organizations offering production grants. He doesn’t stake his hopes, like so many other international filmmakers, on the American distribution deal. In so many words, he doesn’t get screwed because he doesn’t make decisions that place his love for filmmaking at the whim of somebody else. Is it really more complicated than that?

The 51 Birch Street event last night was a success, even though we sweated through some technical difficulties. (Paul handled the situation perfectly, putting everyone at ease. I have almost convinced him that it made the event more human and created a sense of comaraderie in the audience.)

There’s really no better place to highlight our imperfect, human condition than at a screening of 51 Birch Street. The filmmaker, Doug Block, has created a documentary around his journey to understand his parents as people, not just parents, and to understand their marriage in that light. In addition to many conversations with family members, the film includes insight drawn from years of his mother’s journals, which were discovered after her death. (The journals include all kinds of information most adults would rather not know about their mothers).

I think the most moving part of the film, for me, is an interview Doug has with his mother’s best friend of many years, Natasha. He asks her if she thinks his mother would have wanted him to read her journals. Natasha goes through a long process of thinking and making a string of “difficult thinking” expressions before she answers emphatically “Yes!” I love how sure she is after taking the time to think about the issue from many different angles. I also love what she says to back up her response: What a relief for someone to really know us, and still love us.

The film held many similar moments for me–moments of articulation that left me feeling that I was understood, not alone. When I talked after the show to several of the 125 people in attendance, it became clear that I was not the only one to be moved in that way. We all have our own, unique stories, yet we are all connected. Films like this simply bring that connection into the light.

That’s why we love filmmakers who realize they have a story, right under their nose, and decide to tell it. If you have your own story about making a breakthrough with your parents, Doug Block wants you to share it at the 51 Birch Street website. (You can also see where the film is scheduled to play in October and November.)

At SXSW this last March I saw Doug Block’s documentary 51 Birch Street. I immediately wanted to show it to my family and friends. It’s just one of those films that’s complete only when you have somebody to talk about it with. The filmmaker, Doug Block, was gracious enough to let us to host a sneak preview screening here in Michigan before it opens later in New York, LA, San Francisco, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Boston.

Over the last several weeks I’ve been showing the film around to friends–by now I’ve probably watched 51 Birch Street half a dozen times. But I love showing it. I may know what happens next, but every time it ends I get to connect with people on a deeper level than what typically happens in everyday conversation. The film addresses the two most fundamental relationships we have: the one with our parents and the one with our wife/husband. What I’ve found is 51 Birch Street scratches an itch we all have, because, let’s face it, some part of our consciousness is always preoccupied with these relationships. It feels good to talk about them every once in a while.

There’s also something I’ve been thinking about around the idea of watching films in crowds. Snakes on a Plane was a blast because I saw it with a bunch of people willing to waste two hours on guaranteed good trash. 51 Birch Street isn’t as rowdy, but it’s also a film that gets better depending on who you watch it with. Although it’s airing on HBO next year, part of the reason we’re hosting this Spout event is I really want to bring it to a theater where people can watch it together, then walk across the street to the local watering hole and dig into some good conversation with each other. At Spout, we’ve always talked about bringing this type of experience to people. I think 51 Birch Street is the perfect film to start with, and there’ll be more to come. Join the 51 Birch Street Group for updates.

51 Birch Street will be showing at 8:00 Thursday, September 28th.
UICA Theater
41 Sheldon Boulevard SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503